manded them to tell no
man _that thing_."[196:7]

The title of "_Christ_" or "The Anointed," was held by the kings of
Israel. "Touch not my Christ and do my prophets no harm," says the
Psalmist.[196:8]

The term "Christ" was applied to religious teachers, leaders of
factions, necromancers or wonder-workers, &c. This is seen by the
passage in _Matthew_, where the writer says:

"There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect."[196:9]

The virgin-born Crishna and Buddha were incarnations of Vishnu, called
Avatars. An Avatar is an _Angel-Messiah_, a _God-man_, a CHRIST; for the
word _Christ_ is from the Greek _Christos_, an _Anointed One_, a
_Messiah_.

The name _Jesus_, which is pronounced in Hebrew _Yezua_, and is
sometimes Grecized into _Jason_, was very common. After the Captivity it
occurs quite frequently, and is interchanged with the name _Joshua_.
Indeed Joshua, the successor of Moses, is called Jesus in the New
Testament more than once,[196:10] though the meaning of the two names is
not really quite the same. We know of a Jesus, son of Sirach, a writer
of proverbs, whose collection is preserved among the apocryphal books
of the Old Testament. The notorious _Barabbas_[197:1] or _son of Abbas_,
was himself called Jesus. Among Paul's opponents we find a magician
called Elymas, _the Son of Jesus_. Among the early Christians a certain
Jesus, also called Justus, appears. Flavius Josephus mentions more than
_ten_ distinct persons--priests, robbers, peasants, and others--who bore
the name of Jesus, all of whom lived during the last century of the
Jewish state.[197:2]

To return now to our theme--_crucified gods before the time of Jesus of
Nazareth_.

The holy Father _Minucius Felix_, in his _Octavius_, written as late as
A. D. 211, indignantly _resents the supposition that the sign of the
cross should be considered exclusively as a Christian symbol_, and
represents his advocate of the Christian argument as retorting on an
infidel opponent. His words are:

"As for the adoration of _crosses_ which you (_Pagans_) object
against us (_Christians_), I must tell you, _that we neither
adore crosses nor desire them; you it is, ye Pagans_ . . . who
are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses . . . for
what else are your ensigns, flags, and standards, _but crosses